how long would you want your kid to commute to attend a school

[Anonymous]

Curious for those of you with kids traveling 30 minutes to school—how is it working out? For high school, the buses leave pretty early to get to some of the schools we’re applying to, and I’m wondering about the impact of those long days and extra-early wake-ups. Do your kids handle it well, or has it been a challenge? Would love to hear your experiences!

[Anonymous]

Mine have done a combination of walking up the street to school that starts later and taking Metro 30-40 across town to a school that starts earlier. Both were fine. You get used to whatever routine you have.

[Anonymous]

My HS kid is door to door in about 45 min and takes Metro. It makes for long days, especially when she has sports or theater after school, but she thinks it's worth it and has handled homework fine, using study hall, free periods, and time on the train when she needs to.

[Anonymous]

Is 30 minutes really that long of a commute in this area? We live less than 4 miles from DD's school and it can take anywhere from 12 - 35 minutes to get there. A consistent 30 minutes does not seem like a bad commute.

[Anonymous]

For high school or even middle school with a bus? That's totally fine. (I did it back in the day and met some of my closest friends on the bus!) I would really think twice with a Pre-K kid though. It's a very age-dependent question.

[Anonymous]

Our daily commute is on average 30 minutes each way -- 20-25 in the mornings and 35-40 in the afternoons; 7 miles. The length of time and distance are not long within themselves, but the daily grind of dealing with heavy traffic, crazy drivers, and rushing to get to other extracurricular activities adds up. It's manageable, but I couldn't imagine anything longer/farther.

[Anonymous]

My son drives from Alexandria to Cap Hill everyday and never complains, LOVES the independence. We've always told him to treat school like his job and that includes commuting. The commute is approximately 30-40 minutes, depending on traffic and he tends to leave earlier than needed. The only downside is sitting on 295 south traffic at the end of the day but even then, my son has never complained.

[Anonymous]

Kids in elementary school and we walk 5-10 min to school. We used to live further and had to drive. I am so happy we moved. Our kids are busy with homework and activities and I work from home and do pick up. It has improved our quality of life quite a bit (on top of not needed the car nearly as much anymore).

[Anonymous]

We had a 50-60 minute (more if there was a crash on 66 or the toll road) commute for infant through lower elementary years (it was near my job). That was fine through PK when a late arrival didn’t matter, but it was a bear once DC was actually supposed to be in the classroom at a set time (and by then my job location moved, too).

We then had about a 7 minute commute through neighborhood roads for later elementary and MS and that was AMAZING. Loved being so close.

For HS it’s 15-20 minutes in the morning and 20-30 in the evening, depending on timing and traffic. It’s not bad, and DC is very talkative in the car on the way home so I get a ton of detail about what’s going on with them pretty much daily, so that’s really nice. I wouldn’t want the commute to be any longer than 30 minutes, though.

[Anonymous]

We do Springfield to Vienna. 25-30 minutes using the 495 express lanes. That's about the longest I can imagine doing right now. It's a fairly smooth commute once we get through the mixing bowl area so it's not particularly stressful. We aim to be there 10-15 minutes before we have to so we can absorb whatever "adventures" the commute has for us. The upside for me is that we have great conversations in the car. Keep in mind that your child's social life will have a broader geographic footprint with school farther from home. It's been fine for us but it is something to consider.

[Anonymous]

We are at 30 min, give or take 5 min in either direction. It gets old very quickly because of the amount of back and forth needed. Maybe it's easier to deal with in high school when there's more independence. 15 min or less is the ideal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son drives from Alexandria to Cap Hill everyday and never complains, LOVES the independence. We've always told him to treat school like his job and that includes commuting. The commute is approximately 30-40 minutes, depending on traffic and he tends to leave earlier than needed. The only downside is sitting on 295 south traffic at the end of the day but even then, my son has never complained.

He is suffering inside.

[Anonymous]

It depends on if they can read or do homework in the car or bus or will that make them carsick.

[Anonymous]

Highschool kids have lit of work and lot of activities plus issues with sleep so shorter the commute, better for physical, mental and academic health.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son drives from Alexandria to Cap Hill everyday and never complains, LOVES the independence. We've always told him to treat school like his job and that includes commuting. The commute is approximately 30-40 minutes, depending on traffic and he tends to leave earlier than needed. The only downside is sitting on 295 south traffic at the end of the day but even then, my son has never complained.

He is suffering inside.

Not the previous poster but I have to disagree here. Teenagers (and boys especially) thrive on independence and self-sufficiency. The confidence and maturity this teen boy gets by getting himself to and from school through a somewhat difficult drive - will launch him onto next great things. He is probably very pleased with himself!